As much as I don’t want it to happen, I’m positive I’ll be having a nightmare tonight. It’s not just the unfamiliarity of this place or the silence of an empty house either; it’s the absence of Ruby and the comforting warmth of her body beside mine.
I take a sip of beer, just as my phone chimes out with a ping to indicate a text message. Reaching for it on the table, I chuckle when I see Ruby’s name on the screen.
Ruby: OMFG, my sister is passed out in my bed, snoring her head off!
Me: LOL…well, I have it on good authority that the couch is pretty comfy.
The bubbles indicating Ruby is typing a response pop up and disappear several times and I’m not sure if it’s because she’s too drunk to type properly, or because she doesn’t know what to say next. Eventually though, another message comes through.
Ruby: I know. I have slept there with you remember
I grin, remembering that night not just because it was the first time I didn’t have a nightmare, but because it was also the first time she and I slept together. God, the feel of her body next to mine, the way she smelled, how warm she was.
The fucking hard-on I had when I woke up.
Ruby: I like sleeping with you…
Her message surprises me and I have to chalk it up to her drunkenness that she would say something like this. Figuring she won’t register the full implication of my response either, I type out a message back.
Me: I like sleeping with you too.
The sound of a ping, followed by a giggle just outside the house has me lifting my head, but before I can react, I see Ruby, standing on the front porch of Reid’s house dressed in nothing but a tank and a pair of boxer shorts.
I jump off the couch and open the front door. “Jesus, Ruby, what are you doing?” I ask, my heart pounding a little as I automatically scan the street. “You shouldn’t be out in the middle of the night like this.”
Ruby puts her hands against my bare chest, pushing me back inside as she kicks the door shut behind her. Her feet are bare, her phone in one hand as she wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head on my chest. I can feel the warmth of her breath on my skin, the tingle of goosebumps as they spring up.
“I missed you,” she slurs.
I chuckle, unable to stop myself as I press a kiss to the top of her head. “Uh huh, and you’re sure it’s not the snoring sister that’s driven you from your house?”
Ruby huffs, her eyes half closed as she keeps hugging me. Knowing she’s close to falling asleep, I lead her over to the couch, pulling her down with me. There’s no way I’m letting her walk back home like this, even if it is just two houses away.
She collapses against me, half sitting in my lap as her head rests on my shoulder, her face turned into me so her lips are brushing against my neck. I close my eyes, letting out a long slow breath as I try to stay calm.
“Ruby,” I whisper.
“Hmm,” she murmurs, snuggling against me.
“What are you doing here?”
She drapes her arm across my stomach, letting out a slow breath as she says, “Sleeping. I’m sleeping.”
I chuckle. “At Reid’s place?”
“Hmm, with you,” she says, seemingly on the verge of falling asleep now. Resigning myself to the fact that she’s here for the long haul, I settle back against the couch, quietly drinking my beer, my other arm wrapped around her shoulders as I allow myself to hold her against me.
Just one night like this I tell myself. Just one night.
Just when I think she’s fallen asleep, she jolts awake, her head lifting off my shoulder as she says, “Oh shit, do you think they’ve fucked on this couch?”
Chuckling, I ease her back against me. “God, you’re adorable,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head again. “Go back to sleep, Ruby.”
And then, with the TV on low, I close my eyes and fall asleep with her.
Chapter Thirteen
Ruby
My head is pounding when I wake up the next morning still curled around Caleb on Reid’s couch. The sun is streaming through the front window practically blinding me and making me feel like I might puke right here on the floor.
“Fuck,” I mutter, digging the heels of my hands into my eyes. My mouth tastes like I ate from a dumpster and my body feels like I slept in one. This is very different to the first time Caleb and I fell asleep on the couch together.
I shift my body off of his so I’m sitting next to him and he mumbles something, his eyes fluttering open.
“Where are you going?” he says, groggily as he lets his body fall to the side so he’s now lying flat on the couch.
“Mila is going to lose her shit if she wakes up and I’m not there,” I whisper, knowing if I speak too loudly my stomach may go in reverse. I swallow hard, but it does nothing for the bile rising up in my throat.
I scramble from the couch and rush to the bathroom, retching over the toilet and emptying everything I drank last night into it. My eyes are watering and my nose runny, and I fall back onto my ass, my back against the wall as I moan at my own stupidity.
Why did I drink so much last night?
I pull my knees up to my chest, resting my head on them; I close my eyes willing myself not to puke again. I have no idea how I got this drunk or really when I even decided to just show up at Reid’s house and force Caleb to let me sleep here with him.
“You okay?” he asks, handing me a wet washcloth and I wipe at my nose and mouth with it.
“Yeah, I’m fine. At least I still have my pants on this time,” I joke, trying to smile at him but finding everything just hurts.
“You girls obviously kept drinking after the shots at the bar, huh?” he asks me as he holds out a hand to help me up.
“Ahhh, shots at the bar,” I wail, my arm now linked though Caleb’s, my head resting on his shoulder as we walk back into the living room. “Don’t remind me.”
“At least it’s early. You can still go home and sleep it off for another couple of hours. If you want, I can take you out to breakfast later?”
Breakfast sounds like the last thing I need right now and even just picturing scrambled eggs or hash browns or sausage makes me feel like I’m going to puke all over again.
“Stop talking about food,” I whine now, shaking my head and blowing out a long slow breath.
“I know. I’m sorry, but if you feel up to it, let me know. I can take the three of you out, because something tells me you’re all going to need it.”
“I gotta go before Sie or Mila realizes I’m gone and come looking for me or worse yet, call the police.”
I feel like such shit, I don’t even remember to tell Caleb I’m sorry for drunkenly sneaking into Reid’s house and climbing all over him. I smell like rotten booze and puke and I’m sure I didn’t smell much better last night.
“Hey Caleb,” I say, turning around as I stand in the front yard, him leaning against the doorframe. He’s watching me with his gorgeous blue eyes, watching like he doesn’t want me to go, and I feel it too. There’s a connection between us that goes beyond just sleeping together and it roots itself deep in my chest. I feel safe with him and the trust I know he has in me is something he doesn’t just give away willingly.